NEW DELHI: Girish Wagh, the man behind Tata Motors' much-touted budget car Nano, has blamed "external factors" for the poor run of the vehicle, while also linking the failure to the last-minute withdrawal of the factory from Singur in West Bengal that led to delays in deliveries.

Wagh, the main architect of Nano, also feels that the tag of "cheapest car in the world" badly hit the chances of the model, which actually was meant to be a low-cost innovation.

Even as Tata Motors is looking to reinvent itself by launching some new models starting with compact sedan Zest and followed by two models every year till 2020, it would continue to retain its earlier passenger car models like Indica and Indigo, pinning hopes that early signs of an economic revival could revive sales in this category.

"There is no immediate plan to phase out either Indica or Indigo. In the passenger segment, we were a bit under-represented and Zest would start to address that category. But our other brands are very strong in the categories they are in. With economy turning around brands like Indigo and Indica would start growing and it is already happening.

Tata Motors has rallied 2% to Rs 495, also its record high on BSE, extending its rally on the bourses.

In past one week, the stock surged 14% from Rs 433 on August 8, after reporting a robust earnings for the quarter ended June 2014 on back of strong sales of luxury Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR). The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex gain 3.3% during the same period.

The profitability of the struggling domestic unit of Tata Motors, especially that of its passenger car division, depends on the success of the newly launched sedan Zest and the forthcoming roll out Bolt, says global rating agency Moody’s.

"The profitability of Tata Motors' passenger car business depends on its ability to sell significant volumes of its new Zest and Bolt models," Moody's said in a statement.

AHMEDABAD: Tata Nano, once a symbol of aspiration for two-wheeler owners, will be revamped next year and launched as a 'Smart City Car', Girish Wagh, senior vice-president, Tata Motors, said on August 13.

The car suffered from an image problem leading to lower sales.

Tata Motors on Tuesday ended its four-year product launch drought, launching the Zest, a compact sedan priced at Rs 4.64 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The car, the cheapest in its category, will compete against the Maruti Suzuki Dzire, the Honda Amaze, the Hyundai Xcent and the Tata Motors Indigo CS.

Tata Motors claims the Zest is loaded with 29 “segment-leading” features and will be available in nine variants across petrol and diesel engines. Tata Motors’ first new model launch after the Aria launch in 2010, the Zest sports a new 1.2-litre gasoline engine from the Revotron family. (DRIVING ZEST INTO MARKETS).

Shares of Tata Motors soared over 8 per cent in morning trade after the company reported over 3-fold jump in consolidated net profit for the June quarter.

The auto major's scrip jumped 8.18 per cent to Rs 484.00 on the BSE.

On the NSE, the stock climbed 7.93 per cent to Rs 482.

A yet another strong show by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) helped city-based Tata Motors, India’s biggest automobile manufacturer, report a 213 per cent jump in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended June at Rs 5,398 crore, against Rs 1,726 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Seven years after its multi-billion-dollar acquisitions of Corus and JLR, the Tata group's finances seem to be back on track. For the first time since 2007-08, its combined leverage ratio declined to less than one in 2013-14, compared with 1.22 the previous year and 1.62 at its peak in 2008-09.

The improvement was led by Tata Motors, once a financially shaky truck and car maker but now the largest cash generator for the group, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), with a vast free cash flow.

NEW DELHI: The S&P BSE Sensex plunged as much as 86 points in trade on Wednesday following muted trend seen in other Asian markets. The fall in the index was led by losses in ITC, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors and L&T.

Tracking the momentum, the 50-share Nifty index also came under some bit of pressure but was trading above its crucial psychological level of 7700.

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